As soon as the seven of them entered the black fog, the world spun around them. In an instant, they couldn't tell front from back or left from right. Even when they released their spiritual sense, it could only detect a meter around them.
It was actually worse than using their eyes—at least with their eyes, they could still see up to two meters.
"What a formidable array!"
Jason Ji's heart trembled with fear, his face so gloomy it seemed as if it could drip water. He'd planned to wipe out the Miao Clan in one clean sweep, but never imagined he'd walk right into their trap.
Suddenly, he remembered that black-robed middle-aged man.
With a single palm strike, that man had sent the Ji siblings straight into the formation. Such cultivation was already far beyond the old dog of the Miao Clan!
So then, was that black-robed middle-aged man at mid Out-of-Body stage?
Or late Out-of-Body stage?
Taking a deep breath, Jason Ji forced himself to calm down and quickly scanned his surroundings.
But soon, despair surged in his heart. Everywhere was the same—rolling, endless black fog. He even tried walking dozens of meters, but nothing changed at all.
In the sky above.
Elias Miao and Timothy Feng stood side by side, their gazes piercing through layers of black mist to see the Ji Family members wandering within the formation.
"Brother, I never imagined your formation skills had reached such a level. Even if I fell into this array, I'd have a hard time escaping!" Elias Miao exclaimed, though inwardly he grew more wary of Timothy Feng.
Timothy Feng smiled proudly and explained, "This formation is called the Heaven-Shrouding Reversal Array. Once trapped within, all six senses are blinded!"
The six senses refer to the five ordinary senses—mouth, ears, eyes, nose, and touch—plus a cultivator's spiritual sense.
Once a cultivator forms their Golden Core, they develop spiritual sense, which lets them perceive things even more clearly than with their eyes.
Upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage, one can condense divine sense.
Divine sense, also called a minor thought, can at the early Nascent Soul stage be sent out as an individual entity to explore—somewhat like a nanobot in a technological world.
Hearing Timothy Feng's explanation, Elias Miao's heart skipped a beat. He said, "Then anyone who falls into this array is basically at your mercy, right?"
"Exactly!"
Timothy Feng nodded, then casually pointed, sending a ghastly green sword-light flying into the array.
"Ah!"
A miserable scream rang out below—the flying sword had directly severed Derek Ji’s head. When his Nascent Soul emerged, the sword-light rose again and shredded it to pieces.
Timothy Feng summoned the sword-light back with a wave, then said proudly, "Once someone falls into my Heaven-Shrouding Reversal Array, I slaughter them like pigs and dogs—it takes no effort at all."
Hearing this, Elias Miao’s heart trembled, but he smiled and said, "Impressive, impressive. Brother, your Heaven-Shrouding Reversal Array is truly formidable!"
"Haha!"
Timothy Feng laughed heartily, then glanced at the Ji Family members below. "Brother, how do you want to deal with these people—kill them, or capture them all?"
Elias Miao’s eyes flashed with killing intent. The Ji Family had come tonight to kill him, so there was no reason to show mercy. He said, "Don’t spare Jason Ji or any of his siblings!"
"Alright! Watch me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Timothy Feng raised his hand and pointed. The ghastly green sword-light once again descended into the array.
Another scream followed—the sword-light severed Victor Ji’s head and Nascent Soul.
After killing Victor Ji, the sword-light didn’t return. It continued severing the heads and shredding the Nascent Souls of Paul Ji, Gavin Ji, Sofia Ji, and Ethan Ji!
Inside the array, with all six senses blinded, Jason Ji had no idea that in just an instant, all six of his siblings had been utterly slaughtered.
Just as the ghastly green sword-light was about to kill Jason Ji as well, Elias Miao suddenly had a thought and said, "Brother, don’t kill him yet—leave him alive for now!"
"Alright!"
Timothy Feng had no objection—after all, he didn’t think a late Nascent Soul cultivator could threaten him.
Then Timothy Feng withdrew the flying sword and activated the array, causing it to churn and roll below.
Half an hour later, the array was withdrawn. All surviving Ji Family members, including Jason Ji, lay unconscious on the ground.
"Capture them all!"
Elias Miao descended from the sky, directing the Miao Clan members to capture Jason Ji and the others.
At that moment, Jason Ji, who had been unconscious, suddenly turned into a faint shadow and shot into the sky.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Timothy Feng shouted, sending out a palm strike that hit the black shadow. But the shadow only paused briefly before continuing to shoot off into the distance, vanishing in an instant.
For a moment, Timothy Feng looked embarrassed and annoyed. "Sorry, brother, I actually let that guy escape. I'll go chase him down!"
"No need, brother!"
Elias Miao stopped Timothy Feng. Now that all the Ji Family's elites had fallen here, even if Jason Ji escaped, he couldn't support the clan alone. So, let him escape.
Besides, Elias Miao had deeper reasons. The secret art Jason Ji just used resembled one from the Yellow Springs Secret Canon. If Timothy Feng chased him down and killed him, there'd be no way for Elias to monopolize the scripture.
So, he'd rather let Jason Ji escape than allow Timothy Feng to kill him!
Jason Ji's shadow fled over a thousand miles from the commandery city before stopping. He landed in a small forest and immediately coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
He had just cultivated the Yellow Springs Secret Canon and only managed to convert his true essence to Yellow Springs true essence. He hadn't had time to train in the secret arts, so the escape technique he'd used was unfamiliar—allowing Timothy Feng to hit him. Otherwise, he could have escaped easily.
However, using the escape art had a price, and combined with the palm strike, he was seriously injured. Now, Jason Ji had only a tenth of his strength left.
"What should I do?"
Thinking of his six dead siblings, Jason Ji was overwhelmed with grief and spat out another mouthful of blood!
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so impatient, none of this would have happened!"
At this moment, he was not only deeply saddened but also filled with guilt.
"Elias Miao, you old dog! I, Jason Ji, swear—if I survive, I'll tear you to pieces!"
After venting, Jason Ji gathered his remaining true essence and used a movement technique to head toward the Jade Maiden Sect. He didn't dare fly in the sky, since it was too conspicuous. On the ground, with plenty of obstacles, even if the Miao Clan sent people to hunt him down, he wouldn't be discovered so quickly.
Dawn, Jade Maiden Sect.
Ian Song, as usual, headed to the square for morning lessons. Along the way, he greeted several friendly senior sisters.
At that moment, a hoarse, grief-stricken voice rang out: "Jason Ji has come to request an audience with Fellow Daoist Azure!"
Hearing the voice, Ian Song activated his Clairvoyant Vision and looked down the mountain. When he saw Jason Ji's miserable appearance, he was slightly shocked—what happened to this guy?
How did he end up so pitiful?